[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/zQXUPoA.png[/img]
[sub][@Raineh Daze][/sub][/center]
[b]“A true relic of the past, to be so blasé about intimacy with a stranger.”[/b]

And it was indeed, a vampire’s nature to justify their own existence. A rescue opportunity, at the cost of a Princess’s life? For the sister of a conspirator? There were oaths to be fulfilled, indeed, but Serenity understood too: the blood of a royal was worth more than the life of a peasant. Thaln could not function upon principles of equality, no matter the ideals of the church, the virtues of the crown. If the vampire had thought himself to be ‘good’, then it would have ended at the end of his own sword. Such was the might of an immortal nightcrawler, possessing strength both physical and magical that belittled the efforts of the mortal.

If Damon had considered it, and decided that he was [i]incapable[/i] of it, then Fanilly was doomed to fall, alongside two archers of remarkable skill and a warrior who had yet to realize his goals. If he had considered it, and decided that he didn’t [i]want[/i] to do it?

Then he was just a vampire.

But words transmitted through tongue and breath had no meaning now. Now, it was but the death-dance, one that demanded the entirety of her attention, no matter how carefree, how flippant, her foe was. And so, the world blurred away, elaborate statues rendered into grayscale shadows, brilliant walls made to vague boundaries. In that world, only Damon appeared in full-detail, raising his arbalest upwards.

The trigger was pulled. A heavy bolt whizzed past her, Serenity sliding one foot back to shrink her profile. The wall cracked from the force of the shot, her legs coiled up. He was fast, but she could read the starting movements still. The bending of knees into a lunge, a thrust. She had already become the smallest target she could, and with that, the trajectory of his sword’s point could be read as well.

So she advanced too. One step before he’d expect his sword to reach. The heft of the mace warded off his thrust, diverting it offcenter. Her shortsword swung under her leading arm and she caught the crimson flicker in his offhand. Visual guides to strike for. Vampires could heal. Weapons couldn’t.

The shortsword swung for the tautening string of the crossbow.

And whether or not it truly found its mark, Serenity finished her step regardless, pivoting on her feet to face Damon once more.